Pearl River Valley Water Supply District

The Pearl River Valley Water Supply District (PRVWSD) is a governing entity within the state of Mississippi tasked to manage a portion of the Pearl River basin, including the Ross Barnett Reservoir area, and its watersheds. The responsibilities of the district include: overseeing land management, maintaining natural resources, and providing recreational opportunities.

In 1956 the Pearl River Industrial Commission was authorized by the Mississippi State Legislature to study the feasibility of development along the Pearl River basin near Jackson, Mississippi, primarily the creation of a reservoir through the construction of a spillway and dam. A hearing on the proposed development was heard by the State Board of Water Commissioners, as well as the Boards of Supervisors within the proposed district, and found that the project was a public necessity to compensate for the increasing demand for potable water (PEER report #471, 2004, page 3). As a result of that finding, the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District (PRVWSD) was created in 1958 to oversee construction and future management of the Pearl River Reservoir (later named the Ross Barnett Reservoir), its watersheds, and surrounding land. The reservoir project was completed 1965 following the construction of an impoundment of the Pearl River bordering Rankin and Madison counties. The funding for the reservoir's construction was secured through bonds, which were to be paid off, in part, by taxes collected from municipalities within the newly formed district, as well as the city of Jackson, which would be drawing drinking water from the reservoir. The construction bonds were paid-off in 1992, and, since that time, the district no longer collects taxes, rather relying primarily on annual lease fees from residential and commercial properties within the district for funding.

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